User blog:John Pan/Manticore
Mainticore Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larged until he aws in his true form-his face still human, but his body was that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions. "A manticore!" Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical NY Yankess cap had come off when she'd plowed into us. "Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?" "A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!" I didn't know what he was talking about but I didn't have time to worry about it. The manciore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds and then turned twords us with a snarl. "Get down!" Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow. At the lest second, I remembered by own shield. I hit by wristwatch,and the metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force that they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a girft from my brother, was badly damaged. I wans't sure it would even stop a second volley. -''The Titan's Curse'' Part human, part lion, part deadly-thorn-throwing-organism. Commonly abbreviated as “monster.” GAC leadership long realized that their outdated anti-tank weapon systems would stand no chance against the modern Main Battle Tanks of the superpowers. Therefore, from the existing tank stocks of their puppet nations, they started to heavily modify the more modern western designs. Chile's 240 Leopard 2s all underwent heavy surgery. What turned out to be the Manticore was a heavily uparmored 2A5 with a railgun-touting turret. Crew Composition *Driver *Gunner *Loader *Commander Sensory The Manticore retains the Leopard 2's EMES 15 fire control system. It includes a dual-magnification stabilized primary sight, an integrated laser rangefinder, and an integrated Zeiss thermal sight. Should the optics be inoperable or of no use (under the heaviest of battlefield jamming), a backup 8x magnification scope is available. The Commander gets an independent PERI-R 17 panoramic sight. Upgrades None. Armament Mini-Blitzer (1) The greatest GAC achievement in terms of electromagnetic technology, the Mini-Blitzer (a miniature version of the original weapon designed before the GNC by General Atomics) is a 40mm Railgun, one of the best weapons the GAC has managed to design and procure. Firing 40mm x 400mm tungsten-core sabots at speeds past Mach 8, the weapon can reliably deliver 120mm APFSDS-grade firepower at twice the range. M2 Browning (1) To ward off enemy infantry, the Manticore carries a rooftop-mounted remote-controlled M2 Browning. It fires the big, old .50 caliber round that is quite effective in smashing through brick walls or ballistic armor. 400 rounds are carried in the RWS. Upgrades Advanced Cooling System To improve the Mini-Blitzer's rate of fire, the railgun can obtain an extensive air-and-oil cooling system that wraps around the rails, reducing gun wear. Allows longer sustained fire. Supercapitors To enhance the Mini-Blitzer's rate of fire, the railgun can obtain eight supercapitor banks. These unique batteries recharge very quickly and let go of their stored energy very quickly as well, giving the railgun minimum recharging time. Boosts maximum RoF to 10 per minute. Protection Built off of the Leopard 2A5, the Manticore retains the original multi-layered composite armor throughout the vehicle. However, the GAC added extra spaced armor, anti-bomblet roof modules, mine-protection composite plating, spall liner, and cage armor. This raises protection against both kinetic and shape-charge threats by a wide margin, providing it with over a meter of RHAe on its turret face. A reverse-engineered Shtora softkill ECM system, called the Sandstorm, is also standard. It consists of an independent mast mounting sensors, jammers, and dazzlers. Upgrades Trophy Active Protection System Directly purchased from Rafael, the Trophy hardkill ECM combines four F/G band fire control radars and two rotating launchers installed on the two sides of the turret roof. Firing a barrage of tungsten buckshot to intercept incoming projectiles, Trophy can effectively take out incoming RPGs, shells, and ATGMs. Increases survivability by a wide margin. Gun Armor For enhanced survival of the gun—stray rounds could knock it out—the Manticore can obtain spaced armor and spall liner for its Mini-Blitzer. Allows it to survive the occasional light cannon shell, and immunizes it from small-arms fire. Mobility The Manticore is powered by a refurbished MTU MB 873 47.6 liter 12-cylinder turbodiesel, giving the 65-ton tank an impressive 1,500hp. The tank can achieve a maximum of 65 kmph, retaining 50 kmph off-road. Upgrades None. Category:Blog posts